Scanbox Turns Your iPhone Into The Perfect Portable Scanner For Just $15

Yes, it is a fancy box, but it makes scanning on your iPhone a breeze.

There are a ton of terrific iPhone apps that turn your device into a pocket-sized scanner, allowing you to capture documents and photos for copying, emailing, editing, and more. But the problem with these apps is that they only work well if you capture your subject at the right angle with a steady hand.

Scanbox aims to make this process a whole lot easier by turning your iPhone into a sturdy portable scanner for just $15.

Scanbox is a Kickstarter project that wants your backing. As its name suggests, it’s a box that opens up to make a perfect environment for scanning and photographing all sorts of items with your iPhone, or any other smartphone with a decent camera. Just place your device on top of the box, then put your receipts, documents, photographs or objects inside and hit capture.

With Scanbox, you don’t need to worry about holding your iPhone still and ensuring it’s at the right angle. But the best thing about it is its portability. It folds flat so that you can slip it into your bag while you’re traveling, and it assembles in seconds when you need it.

Check out the video to see Scanbox in action:

Scanbox was born from the idea that we need to use document scanners every so often, but traditional desktop scanners are far too big, expensive and cumbersome for their occasional usefulness. They take up desk space, require you to install drivers/updates and need a power source to operate.

Some of Scanbox’s uses include:

Digitize your receipts

Live projector for presentations

Optimized for face recognition when you scan photos

Scans 3D objects (great for eBay product shots)

Scan a page from a book (remember those!)

Turns your phone into a photocopier

Pledges start at $15 (excluding shipping) for a regular Scanbox, but for an additional $10, you can grab a Scanbox+, which boasts built-in LED lights to ensure you always have the best lighting for scanning. You can also pledge $56 or more to grab Scanbox+ bundles.

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$15 for what looks like a cardboard box? No thanks. I use JotNot which costs just a few dollars on the app store. I hold it up, take the pic and it automatically finds the corners of the document and crops it. No need for a box. Though I can see something like this working for stacks on stacks of papers. I’m just saying, $15 is a lot for something that I feel like could be make from any box. Make it $5 or something, then I can see them selling. Right now you can just use a box or use that $15 and put it towards a cheap flat bed scanner.

Mystakill

@Justin,

I can picture a number of scenarios that my wife would be able to benefit from with this laminated structure. First of all, it provides a steady location to hold your camera, so jitter shouldn’t be an issue. Also, since it’s not app-specific, it’ll also work with your beloved JotNot as well. I was actually surprised to see it demoed as a presentation tool, as I hadn’t even considered that scenario; the developers obviously have.

danfrydman

Did you know that there’s already a product like this available? Made in the UK by a company called Modahaus. You can get a Steady Stand for iPhone or digital camera here: